The All Progressives Congress, APC, has emerged victorious in Gombe State’s local government elections, winning all contested chairmanship and councillorship seats.

The Gombe State Independent Electoral Commission, GOSIEC, announced the results on Saturday after polls held across the state’s 11 constitutionally recognised Local Government Areas and 13 newly created Local Council Development Areas.

According to GOSIEC, the APC won all 24 chairmanship positions and all 240 councillorship seats. The commission’s chairman, Abdullahi Garba Talasse, said the expansion from 11 LGAs to 24 councils with 240 councillors followed the creation of 13 LCDAs by Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya to bring governance closer to the people.

Six political parties contested the chairmanship election, including APC, Youth Party, National Rescue Movement, Zenith Labour Party, African Action Congress and Democratic Liberation Alliance. However, only the APC fielded candidates in all 24 councils, while others participated in a limited number of areas. Major opposition parties, PDP and ADC, stayed away from the polls.

Voting was conducted across 114 wards and 2,988 polling units and was described as largely peaceful. Governor Yahaya, who voted in Gombe LGA, commended the peaceful conduct and urged all parties to accept the outcome in the interest of the state. Election observers also described the exercise as orderly.

Source: GOSIEC results via Daily Trust, Western Post, Leadership, Punch